


If The World Was Ending

by thanatosplaythings



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, F/F, Post-Break Up, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:41:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24699997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanatosplaythings/pseuds/thanatosplaythings
Summary: But if the world was endingYou'd come over right?You'd come over and you'd stay the nightWould you love me for the hell of it?All our fears would be irrelevantIf the world was endingYou'd come over right?Songfic based on If The World Was Ending by JP Saxe ft Julia Michaels. I hope you brought tissues.
Relationships: Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 5
Kudos: 50





	If The World Was Ending

**I was distracted/And in traffic/I didn't feel it/When the earthquake happened**

Fingers tapping impatiently on the steering wheel, you wish not for the first time that Chigaco traffic really wasn’t this horrendous. You’ve just spent an exhausting 36 hours in the ER, and you wish some of the substances on your scrubs are unknown. (How does a human being even projectile vomit that far?)

The world’s biggest earthquake rained devastation on Earth 37 hours ago. You hadn’t even been awake for it, but the incessant ringing of your phone wakes you up from a deep slumber.

“What?” You mumble sleepily, rubbing at your eyes.

“Josie! Thank god you answered, I’ve tried calling like 4 times. Are you okay?”

“Yeah? What’s going on?”

“Jesus, did you sleep though it? There was a fucking massive earthquake. It’s off the Richter scale. The entire world felt it. Everyone’s freaking out.”

“I only finished my last shift 3 hours ago and passed out the moment I hit the bed. But yeah, I’m okay. Have you checked on Mom and Dad? Are you and Hope okay?”

“I’m about to call them. I’ll text you the details after I find out. But Hope and I are fine. I’m glad you are too. Stay safe. Talk soon.”

And just like that, Lizzie’s off the line as quickly as she called.

You pull a fresh set of scrubs on and make your way to the car. Mass catastrophe meant it was only a matter of time before you’re called in, you might as well already be on your way there.

You somehow pull up at the hospital parking lot after ridiculous panic traffic and numerous road diversions on the way.

You don’t get a chance to breathe for the next day and a half. You’re pretty sure at this point adrenaline is the only thing keeping you on your feet and you don’t know the last time you ate.

Until the government reported that a second earthquake was coming, bigger than the last. At this point, there was no hope for humanity. The next earthquake would bring the entire world crashing down on everyone’s shoulders, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

“We strongly advise everyone to go home and spend their last remaining moments on Earth with their loved ones. We are so, so sorry we cannot do anything.”

Spend the last few hours of your life with your loved ones. It would be a great idea if any of your family were in the same city. With Lizzie and Hope happy in sunny New Orleans, your dad clinging to your hometown of Mystic Falls, and your mother living in beautiful Paris, you’re just going to die with your cat. Except it wasn’t even your cat. It was just the neighborhood stray you always have enough of a soft spot for that you keep a bag of cat food in your apartment.

**But it really got me thinkin'/Were you out drinkin'/Were you in the living room/Chillin' watchin' television/It's been a year now/Think I've figured out how/How to let you go and let communication die out**

Your thoughts fly to someone who haven’t thought about in over 6 months. Someone you haven’t spoken to in over a year.

You can’t forget about the way she broke your heart, but as the world is ending before you, you wonder if she’s at her favorite bar you reluctantly (not really) followed her to every Friday night, surrounded by friends you couldn’t ever really call yours.

_“Live a little, Jojo. I promise my friends will love you. I bet you’ll be their friend too in no time. If not, I’ll play pool with you and make you forget about all your worries.”_

Or maybe she’s in her living room binging on the latest drama series.

_“It’s the only thing more dramatic than our lives, Jojo; it’s an escape from reality.”_

A whole year without talking to the one person you think understands you better than you understand yourself. The way she predicted everything you needed even before words were spoken, how she knew exactly when to push you to talk about your problems and when you needed space to just think, how you know what it meant to be homesick until you couldn’t go home to her.

Penelope Park wormed her way into your heart, and you don’t know how to forget it. You don’t know how to fix the massive gunshot wound in your heart when she left, how to replicate the way you felt like you were fucking flying in every moment spent with her. (All you want is to feel whole again. Except according to her, whole was never talking to each other ever again.)

**I know you know we know you weren't down for forever and it's fine/I know you know we know we weren't meant for each other and it's fine**

_“I’m sorry, Josie, I just don’t think we’re working out. I think that you give too much of yourself to Lizzie. She outshines you in every way but only because you let her. You could be so much better than just a trauma nurse, except you let Lizzie talk you out of getting a medical degree all because she wanted it first. And all for what? So she could drop out in her 4 th year and watch her flush your dreams down the drain? I can’t keep watching you put yourself second every time. I can’t commit to someone who doesn’t love herself. This world needs the selfless and the selfish to keep spinning. I happen to be the latter. I’m sorry.”_

**But if the world was ending/You'd come over right?**

“Josie?”

“I’m really sorry for this. I know it’s been awhile, but can you come over? I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

There’s a sharp breath at the other end of the line, and you think she’ll call you crazy and hang up, but instead you get, “Yeah. Yeah, I can. I’ll be there in 20.”

You sit on the couch hugging a pillow and stare at the clock on the wall.

**You'd come over and you'd stay the night**

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

She’s so fucking beautiful, even as the world falls to shit around you, that you want to cry.

“Sorry I took so long; traffic is pretty bonkers right now.”

“It’s okay.”

“Are you going to invite me in?”

“Oh. Yeah. Come in.”

You step aside to let the woman you thought was the love of your life through. You’re wrong on so many accounts.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I just haven’t slept in like a day. Hospital went crazy, y’know?”

“Oh, of course.”

The silence grows an entire universe between you.

“Can we maybe just… cuddle in bed?”

“Of course. You going to change into PJs?”

“Yeah, hang on. Will you stay with me?”

“Always.”

(Always stopped 12 months ago.)

**Would you love me for the hell of it/All our fears would be irrelevant/If the world was ending/You'd come over right**

“Are you scared?”

“No. I think I’ve made peace with my life.”

You haven’t made peace. You haven’t made peace with how easily she left you. How someone else just threw you away again. Second-best. Always second-best.

“Hey Pen?”

“What?”

“I still love you.”

Her silence squeezes tight and cracks your rib bones.

“I still love you too.”

Oh. The words are a car battery jump starting your heart.

“Do you mean it?”

“The world is ending and you really want to question my love for you right now?”

“I guess not.”

“Are you scared?”

You’re terrified, but with her arms home around you, you’re a little less afraid.

“Not anymore.”

**The sky'd be falling and I'd hold you tight/And there wouldn't be a reason why/We would even have to say goodbye/If the world was ending/You'd come over right?/Right?/If the world was ending/You'd come over right?/Right?**

“The cause of the earthquakes has been determined to be the meteors that scientists unsuccessfully predicted would pass by the Earth without trouble.”

Penelope put the television on half an hour ago in hopes there might be any sort of good news.

She was wrong.

You wrap your arms tighter around her waist, breathing in the scent you never want to forget even in the afterlife.

“Jojo, if the world continues the way I think it’s going to, I just want you to know that I regret the way I broke up with you every day.”

“It’s okay. You were right. I was giving too much of myself to Lizzie and I couldn’t see it. I’m just sorry it took you leaving for me to see it.”

“I’m really glad you called me over.”

“Me too.”

**I tried to imagine/Your reaction/It didn't scare me when the earthquake happened/But it really got me thinkin'/That night we went drinkin'/Stumbled in the house/And didn't make it past the kitchen/Ah it's been a year now/Think I've figured out how/How to think about you without it rippin' my heart out**

You jumped into the shower after Penelope hung up, hoping the hot water would wash away the helplessness you feel. You really didn’t feel like dying in bloody scrubs.

Except the shower also provides too much space for thoughts.

Was Penelope surprised you called? After so much time between you would it be awkward? (Of course, you idiot. Except you also spent the 3 years before that knowing everything about each other so maybe it won’t be.)

She knew it was you calling immediately. Did she not delete your number? The same way you could never really delete hers.

You pull out a bottle of wine and put it on the counter. If you were going to die you might as well die happy drunk.

_You clumsily unlock the door after several attempts, not that Penelope’s open-mouthed kisses pressed to the back of your neck really helped._

_She giggles when you stumble over the threshold and drop your keys almost immediately. She shuts up soon enough when you shut the door behind her and back her into it, hand grabbing the swell of her breasts. Her moan sends a shot of arousal straight to your core and you hungrily swallow the sound with your lips._

_“Bed,” you whisper against her neck when you finally break for air._

_You make slow progress to your destination, the both of you kicking off heels to free aching feet and tugging at each other’s clothing._

_“Too far. Here.” Penelope whines against your lips while her hands press your hips hard into the kitchen counter._

_You never could say no to her._

How ironic was it that you had just finally stopped feeling like you were breathing glass when you thought of her and you immediately invite her back into your life?

**I know you know we know you weren't down for forever and it's fine/I know you know we know we weren't meant for each other and it's fine**

_Another missed anniversary._

_Another night spent picking her up from the bar you used to go to together before she stopped inviting you._

_You can’t take it anymore._

_You confront her._

_She leaves._

_Repeat._

**If the world was ending/You'd come over right?**

_“I’d follow you to the ends of the earth, Jojo. Just you try and stop me.”_

_“What if I end up in hell?”_

_“Well I guess we better prepare our speech to Hades.”_

You’re cuddled in bed, head resting on her chest just like you used to. You hate how easily your bodies fit back into each other, like a jigsaw puzzle. Penelope hugs you tight, like she knows exactly what you’re thinking, and kisses the top of your head.

You hear the rumble of the earth long before you feel it shake.

Mother Nature will always come calling.

**Right?**

How ironic the world decides to end on your fucking anniversary.

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to this song and I was like how sad would it be if it were Posie? So here it is lmao


End file.
